All Good Things Must Come To An End
Alright fellow followers of my travels, this is the last update of my Semester at Sea blog. I may update it again with a "Now that I'm back, what the hell do I do?" entry when I get home, but we will see. I need to get a new computer obviously so it may be a little while if that entry happens. As you know, my Japan entry will not be up because it was lost on my computer during "the death", as I call the event. If I am ever able to recover it, I will post if for the hell of it. It would be a shame for you to not be able to read about my most favorite place in the world, and my most favorite city in the world, Tokyo. I have been thinking about this specific "last" entry since the day I started this blog. I thought about all the sentimental things I would say, like how this experience has changed me and how it will be hard to leave this family, and this beautiful ship I call "home" behind. I dont think I understood the gravity of what I would be writing until this exact moment when I am typing this. There are three days left in this voyage. All my finals are done, all my schoolwork handed in, and all my souvenirs are packed and ready to go. Has it hit me yet? It is starting to. It really began to hit me when we pulled into Hawaii a few days ago on Saturday. I of course had service on my regular cell phone, so I called my parents. Mind you we werent allowed to get off the ship in Hawaii, which absolutley killed me. Hawaii is a place I have been trying to get to since as long as I can remember, and we were docked within arms reach of Aloha Tower in downtown Honolulu, and it hurt pretty bad just to stare at it. It is ok, I have decided to come back in December for my 21st birthday, and anyone who wants to join, party on. So, while I was talking to my parents we were talking about how it was all over, and it was almost time for me to come home. That is when it started to hit me. Talking about it on the ship is a normal thing, just ship talk while we go about our daily routine. But, when I was talking to my parents, it made me realize that the end is here, and the magnitude of what I have accomplished in the past 100 days is inconceivable. I was mindblown. I said to my parents that I was starting to realize that I couldnt conceive everything I have seen and done in the past 4 months. My Mom told me, "Mike, you have experienced more in the past 100 days than most people will ever experience in their lives. Unfortunately, all good things must come to and end." Even though she is right, I dont want it to. I dont want to leave this ship. I dont want to leave this family. I dont want to leave my home.
Friday morning of the 28th will roll around, and we will begin the debarkation process in San Diego. My "sea" is the second to last to get off the ship, which doesnt bother me. The longer I get to hang around and say goodbye to people the better. When I get off I will most likely head to one final dinner with some friends, and then a red eye on jetBlue takes me back to JFK overnight, and then to Syracuse where I will arrive at 11am on the next day, Saturday the 29th. The minute I step off this ship will be the end of my voyage. It will be the end of a great experience, a great story, and a great life. I accept that this will end, but I wish like hell it would start back up again in the fall. I am considering the Summer 2007 voyage throughout Latin America, but that it is another story. I plan to remain close with a number of people with whom I consider some of the most amazing and genuine people I have ever met. I traveled the globe with 700 of the brightest and most outgoing students in the United States and the world. What more could I have asked for? This voyage will by far go down in my memory as the greatest and most significant thing I have, and most likely will ever do in my life.
Since day one, we have heard throughout the voyage that Semester at Sea is a "changing experience". If I could descibe Semester at Sea, I wouldnt be able to think of a better choice of words. On this ship, I have changed. I dont feel changed when I am here, but when I think about home, I know I have changed. I know that when I return home, I will be putting things into perspective. Many of my views on life and the world have changed on this voyage. I have seen things that will forever change my views on certain subjects. I believe that when I get home, my mind will be spinning while I calculate everything I have seen and what it means. How do I know this? When I think about life at home, and I compare it to the life I have been living, plus the lifestyles of everyone else in the world, I view everything differently than when I left the U.S. I dont know a better way to describe my new views and revelations, all I can say is that I can tell I am a different person than when I left. I am not only a different person, I am a better person.
A part of me will always remain with this ship and the people I became close with. I believe that more of a part of me will remain in all the places I have set foot in throughout the past 4 months. Each of these places left a lasting effect on me. I am grateful for the chance I have had to experience this world. I could not think of a better way of spending 4 months other than traveling the world and experiencing cultures and places that have left a lasting impression on me. I need to thank Semester at Sea for having this program. Without this program, younger generations like myself would not have the opportunity to see the world in such a fantastic way. Thank you Semester at Sea for the amazing opportunity that has been given to me, and every other past voyager. More importantly, I need to thank my parents. Without their financial and moral support, these past four months would have been spent back in the cold of Connecticut and Syracuse. Mom and Dad, I owe you everything. I dont know how I can ever repay you for the experience you have given me. I am forever grateful, and I love you very much.
Wow, how do I end this entry. I think I have exhausted all this sentimental stuff, so I will throw in a little humor here. A good friend on the ship told me quote I will never forget. She heard this quote from a past voyager, and I couldnt agree more with it. So here it is:
"Semester at Sea is like sex, and everything else is just like smoking a cigarette."
Amen. Thank you everyone for following along with me, I hope you had as much fun reading my experiences and adventures as I had sharing them with you. Once again, all good things must come to an end, and this was a damn good thing.
Goodbye and Godbless,
Michael
Friday morning of the 28th will roll around, and we will begin the debarkation process in San Diego. My "sea" is the second to last to get off the ship, which doesnt bother me. The longer I get to hang around and say goodbye to people the better. When I get off I will most likely head to one final dinner with some friends, and then a red eye on jetBlue takes me back to JFK overnight, and then to Syracuse where I will arrive at 11am on the next day, Saturday the 29th. The minute I step off this ship will be the end of my voyage. It will be the end of a great experience, a great story, and a great life. I accept that this will end, but I wish like hell it would start back up again in the fall. I am considering the Summer 2007 voyage throughout Latin America, but that it is another story. I plan to remain close with a number of people with whom I consider some of the most amazing and genuine people I have ever met. I traveled the globe with 700 of the brightest and most outgoing students in the United States and the world. What more could I have asked for? This voyage will by far go down in my memory as the greatest and most significant thing I have, and most likely will ever do in my life.
Since day one, we have heard throughout the voyage that Semester at Sea is a "changing experience". If I could descibe Semester at Sea, I wouldnt be able to think of a better choice of words. On this ship, I have changed. I dont feel changed when I am here, but when I think about home, I know I have changed. I know that when I return home, I will be putting things into perspective. Many of my views on life and the world have changed on this voyage. I have seen things that will forever change my views on certain subjects. I believe that when I get home, my mind will be spinning while I calculate everything I have seen and what it means. How do I know this? When I think about life at home, and I compare it to the life I have been living, plus the lifestyles of everyone else in the world, I view everything differently than when I left the U.S. I dont know a better way to describe my new views and revelations, all I can say is that I can tell I am a different person than when I left. I am not only a different person, I am a better person.
A part of me will always remain with this ship and the people I became close with. I believe that more of a part of me will remain in all the places I have set foot in throughout the past 4 months. Each of these places left a lasting effect on me. I am grateful for the chance I have had to experience this world. I could not think of a better way of spending 4 months other than traveling the world and experiencing cultures and places that have left a lasting impression on me. I need to thank Semester at Sea for having this program. Without this program, younger generations like myself would not have the opportunity to see the world in such a fantastic way. Thank you Semester at Sea for the amazing opportunity that has been given to me, and every other past voyager. More importantly, I need to thank my parents. Without their financial and moral support, these past four months would have been spent back in the cold of Connecticut and Syracuse. Mom and Dad, I owe you everything. I dont know how I can ever repay you for the experience you have given me. I am forever grateful, and I love you very much.
Wow, how do I end this entry. I think I have exhausted all this sentimental stuff, so I will throw in a little humor here. A good friend on the ship told me quote I will never forget. She heard this quote from a past voyager, and I couldnt agree more with it. So here it is:
"Semester at Sea is like sex, and everything else is just like smoking a cigarette."
Amen. Thank you everyone for following along with me, I hope you had as much fun reading my experiences and adventures as I had sharing them with you. Once again, all good things must come to an end, and this was a damn good thing.
Goodbye and Godbless,
Michael
posted by Mike Gilbert at 4:14 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for sharing your experiences Mike. Welcome to "alum-land." Maybe I'll see you next summer.
roff
senior
A04 and A05
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